Talking Point: How Do You Feel About Xbox Game Pass In 2026?

Mine ran out on the 4th of this month and I've no intention of renewing at the current costs.

@FredBiletnikoff Same. Mine lapsed the day after Christmas. I cannot justify $30/month. At least I have plenty to play and catch up on in my digital library.

I dont use it as much as i should. There are games i want to play but i usually end up playing an owned game from the backlog instead. Thinking of canceling.

With how Xbox has been going I'm reluctant to add to my library so I let gamepass handle that (for now) and spend my money on games elsewhere.

If the price of ram hadn't exploded (after GPU did) I would probably be on PC now and paying less for GP.

It’s lapsed and I haven’t renewed. I may subscribe for a few months when some of the big games release this year but will likely just buy them on Steam.

You can get Game Pass Ultimate from online stores for around half the price, I don't see the problem.

It's just over $15/month (£12) if you purchase 12 months upfront. It even works out to about $17/month (£13) if you just get it for 3 months. This is for the EU/UK market at least.

My stacked Ultimate membership ends on the 27th, and I agree about wanting to be more intentional in my gaming this year. Looking over my last year of play it’s hard to justify $30/month and there aren’t that many upcoming games I’m excited about. I will probably rejoin when FH6 or Fable drop.

It sucks that the price increased.
It sucks that as always console users need to pay more to get the same that PC users get for less.

And it's still great value if you have the tlme to use it.

Last time I spent on GPU it cost just under £97 for 3 years stacking and runs out later this year. I won't be renewing via stacking or recurring monthly payments after that. However I may a couple of times a year grab a month to hammer a few of the so called big releases.
Also not spending anymore money on XBOX digital as I will probably be running to the dark side next gen. XBOX going forward doesn't offer me what I want am just a simple console owner who wants to play with other console owners. XBOX next gen to me is looking like entry level pc that's not upgradable and wouldn't suprise me if there was zero cross play options......hard pass from me.
GPU is good if you enjoy endless shelf fillers and the occasional decent game that's usually fixed just in time for the PS release.

Never been really invested in the xbox ecosystem so when my gamepass subscription ended it was easy to give up. Not worth the cost now, I'll stick to Steam and PS.

I play 20-30 GP games every year so it’s still worth it to me to have GP but I worry about GP going away because I don’t think the math makes sense for the 99% of gamers who don’t play as much as I do.

@kanedase7en This is what I did once the price went up. On Shopto it’s something like £34 for a 3 month GPU sub, so I’m subbed until December 2026.

I bought vouchers immediately after price hike, so I'm good until 2028.
It's a great service for me and in current time (and sheer amount of games I'm playing from service) I would even be able to justify paying 26,99€ per month for it. Although I would be glad if they made additional tier without Fortnite Crew (and maybe without COD) but with day one games for like 21,99€ or something like that.

Still a great value overall, objectively speaking. That said, I’ve got Game Pass Ultimate at half price until 2027 — and it’s definitely still possible to stack it further using the usual tricks.

Otherwise, there’s always PC Game Pass, which remains the best value for pc players. Then there’s Game Pass Premium, which is also a solid option for console players only and cheaper than Ultimate, even if you don’t get day-one titles.

@Godot25 Yeah, they really should’ve made Fortnite Crew optional — or even Ubisoft Classics or COD. That could’ve helped lower the price of Game Pass Ultimate. Like you, I’ve stacked GPU until the end of 2027 at half price, and it’s still totally doable.

Beyond that, there’s still PC Game Pass and Game Pass Premium, which are objectively affordable considering the full catalog of games they offer.

Finally back to Essential from Game Pass Ultimate. Now I can work on my backlog. 😆

I share the cost with a friend and it still comes down to 6.50 a month. I am not complaining.

Mine lapsed and I havent renewed it. With 3 kids, work and the travel I do it just didnt hold the value at the new price with the time I get to play. My kids only really played one or two games on xbox so it was just cheaper to buy them outright and they fill their boots with them.

With the majority (all) now going to PS i can save money as i use that more now when I get the time. My backlog on xbox vanished when gamepass did so im playing through my backlog on PS and will pick up any xbox releases I want on PS in a sale at a later date.

Moved to Essential at the last price hike and stayed there.
Bought games that I've wanted through sales
I'm happier.

Dropped to Premium this month and feel a bit salty that Replaced and Fable won’t be day one for me after such a long wait. As a casual, I’m thinking I might just go back to buying the odd game in sales. I’m not sure I’ll stay with Xbox next gen but with prices going nuts I want this machine to last as long as possible to maximise value. Overall, Gamepass was a nice idea but I do feel like they pulled the rug out from under me and it’s tainted my opinion of Xbox. To be fair though, I’ve had similar feelings about Sony and Nintendo over the years and bounced between platforms as a result.